Maybe it’s from my lower middle class upbringing, but anything that shouts “bargain” gets my attention while I’m totally deaf to the word “compromise.” Teleconverters have long seemed like a bargain to me because I can get extra reach usually for less than what a standalone lens of equivalent focal length would cost.
So every time I add a long lens to the arsenal, it seems as though I immediately start conspiring to augment it with bargain-basement reach. Fortunately I have an archive of photos (read: evidence of compromise) that can sometimes help me retain my sanity.
The teleconverter bug was gnawing at me again today, conspiring to find a single solution to augment the reach of both the Sigma 100-400mm and Lumix S 70-200mm. I remember writing down late last year which teleconverters could be cross-branded and with what results. But I can’t find what I wrote.
Recollection says that the Lumix TCs would AF with the Sigma but not record correct EXIF (implying also inaccurate stabilization); while the Sigma TC-1411 worked same as the DMW-STC14 on the Lumix lens, yielding correct EXIF.
Both brands’ products have the same number of elements in the same number of groups, and are close in dimensions and weight as well. But which to get? Do I really want an 800mm f/12.6 lens or (yet another) 400mm f/8 combo that the CL can’t AF correctly?
The archive, full of some miserable-looking shots, didn’t dissuade me this time because I’m sure the SL2 can AF any of these combos better than the SL601 could.
But the market . . . the market stopped me dead in my tracks. The Lumix TCs just don’t exist in these parts, and the local Sigma office doesn’t even import the TC-2011!
Alas, my “bargain” is not to be found . . .
. . . at the moment . . .
